Tag Archives: NBA

Quote for the Day

“I got cussed out by my mom this morning because she’s been dying to meet Pop. She told me today that I better make sure that she gets to meet him.”

Demar DeRozan – San Antonio Spurs guard on his mother wanting to meet legendary Spurs Coach Greg Popovich.

Thunder Take Game 2 from Spurs – Aided by Massive Cheating and Incompent Refs

The OKC Thunder rebounded to win game 2 of the Western Conference semi-final series in San Antonio on Monday night.  The last 13.5 seconds were filled with controversy and the analysts are running wild over the chaos that ensued beginning with OKC’s last inbound pass from Dion Walters.  Clearly running out of time to inbound the ball (some analysts claim he should have been called for a 5 second violation), Walters elbowed Manu Ginobili in the chest and then threw a wild pass that was corralled by Danny Green.  Green passed to Patty Mills for what looked like a layup until enormous Steven Adams ran him down.  Mills passed to Ginobili in the corner who moved to the lane making a casual behind the head pass back to Mills in the corner – who had his shot blocked by Adams who also appeared to foul Mills on the play by knocking him into the stands.  LaMarcus Aldridge got the rebound only to be clearly fouled going up for what would have been the game winning basket and the game was over.  Maybe the refs are just “letting them play” but clearly missed the call on Walters on the inbound pass that started the mayhem.

After the game, referee Ken Mauer admitted that his “team” had blown the call.

Q – Can you explain what the referees saw on the in-bounds play with 13.5 seconds remaining when Dion Waiters appeared to make contact with Manu Ginobili?

A – On the floor we did not see a foul on the play. However, upon review we realize and we agree we should have had an offensive foul on the play. It’s a play we’ve never seen before, ever. We should have had an offensive foul on the play.

Q – Had an offensive call been made on Waiters what rule would have applied to a foul committed before throw-in?

A – An offensive foul. Possession Spurs.

Thanks a lot, Ken.  Red predicts that the Spurs take no prisoners on Friday in OKC and reclaim home court advantage.

Warriors Stomp Spurs

Red was a little too busy yesterday to comment on the much anticipated game between the Spurs and Warriors on Monday night.  The game featured the teams with the two best combined records ever to meet this late in the season.  The Warriors and Spurs had combined to win over 88% of their games.  However, the defending NBA champion Warriors put a brutal butt-whipping on the Spurs last night in a 120-90 victory proving that they are the best team in the NBA right now.  The NBA’s best offense overpowered the NBA’s best defense – albeit playing without Tim Duncan.  Red is almost thankful that he did not get to watch the Warriors dismember the Spurs on live TV.

Even with all-world defender Kawhi Leonard on him, Steph Curry still managed to torch the Spurs with 37 points on 12 of 20 shooting.  It was as if the Warriors still believe they have something to prove despite being defending champion and having tied an NBA record for best start after 45 games at 41-4.  Meanwhile, the Spurs will have more than a month to regroup and get ready for the Warriors when they come to SA in March.

See ESPN for the Box Score if you must.

 

 

I Ignored my Wife and Kids, Walked Into Traffic and Couldn’t Shoot a 3-Pointer to Save My Life

NBA and long-time San Antonio Spurs player, Matt Bonner believes that his iPhone 6 hurt his shooting last season.  Bonner blames the large-screen smartphone for an elbow injury that reduced his shooting percentage last season.  Bonner has been an effective 3-point big man for the Spurs related that that an injury to his left (non-shooting) elbow lasted from early December to the mid-season All-Star break.   As a result, Bonner made 36.5 percent of long-range shots last season, compared to 41.4 percent during his 11-year NBA career.

Bonner told the Concord Monitor, “I hate to make excuses, I was raised to never make excuses, but I went through a two-and-a-half month stretch where I had really bad tennis elbow, and during that stretch it made it so painful for me to shoot I’d almost be cringing before I even caught the ball like, ‘Oh, this is going to kill.’ Everybody is going to find this hilarious, but here’s my theory on how I got it. When the new iPhone came out it was way bigger than the last one, and I think because I got that new phone it was a strain to use it, you have to stretch further to hit the buttons, and I honestly think that’s how I ended up developing it.”

Today in Texas History – June 25

From the Annals of the NBA –  In 1999, the San Antonio Spurs won their first NBA title beating the New York Knicks 78-77 in Game 5 at Madison Square Garden.  After a lock-out shortened 50-game season, the Spurs earned an NBA-best 37–13 record which was the only time since Tim Duncan was drafted that the Spurs did not win at least 50 games in a season. The team, anchored by David Robinson and Duncan, was dominant in the playoffs, rolling through the Western Conference with a record of 11–1, and completed their remarkable playoff run with a 15-2 record. In the Finals, they faced the Knicks who had made history by becoming the first eighth seed to ever make the NBA Finals.   Duncan was named the Finals MVP. The Spurs became the first former ABA team to reach and to win the NBA Finals.

Rockets Fans Make Fun of Cuban

Red goes back and forth on Mark Cuban.  He admires anyone who made off with the billions from other fools while the getting was good, but also thinks that professional sports franchise owners should neither be seen nor heard.  Cuban loves the spotlight almost as much as media whore Jerry Jones. Is there something in the water in the Metroplex? And Red also thinks that anyone poking fun at these oligarchs who routinely feed at taxpayer trough deserves kudos.

The Houston Chronicle reports on the latest effort by Rockets fans to sucker punch Cuban.